Graphics

Japan/US

EU

The Level Up animation got reverted to the one used in the previous game for the European version. This change was not retained for The Sacred Stones, where the European localizations made their own versions of the full-size Japanese/English graphic for animations-on mode.

Japan/US

EU

All CG images in the European version feature a colored border four pixels wide, which is absent in the other versions. The images themselves are re-aligned four pixels up and left, in order to accommodate the border without reducing the images' quality; the images are otherwise unchanged.

To do:images

During the intro video where the game showcases different units, there is text that accompanies what weapons each units can use. In the Japanese version the text reads "Usable of the weapon". In the international versions the text reads "Primary Weapons".

The Blade Lord (Lyn's promoted class) got a new animation for her penultimate weapon, the Sol Katti, outside of Japan. In the Japanese version she simply uses her standard animations when using the weapon.

In the Tactician creation menu, "birth moon" was changed to "birth month". Also, "Personal information" was changed to "Personal Information".

Gameplay Changes

All localizations

Japan

US

Blood type was removed in the Tactician creation menu. Its effect on determining the tactician's affinity was removed and affinity is now decided only by birth month. The tactician's affinity gives a minor bonus to units of the same affinity. This didn't make any affinities unobtainable, but it did change their abundance.

Effective bonus was changed from 3 to 2 for Aureola and all non dragon-slaying weapons, weakening them overall.

Many of the bosses had their stats slightly lowered overall.

In the Cog of Destiny chapter, the boss of the chapter had its weapon switched from a Runesword to a Light Brand; making the boss a bit easier.

In the first part of the Final Chapter, two doors open at the end of every second turn in the Japanese version, and both the lower right and upper left rooms are open at the start of the chapter. The localization changed this to open one door at the end of every turn and to have only the lower right room open at the start. This was changed so that the player encounters less bosses at once.

Text

The allowed length of tactician and Link Arena team names was expanded from five characters to nine.

The speed of the text being displayed was changed for international releases, with text speed being slowed down overall.

In the Japanese version, a unit's affinity icon has kanji next to it clarifying what type of affinty that unit has. As it is not possible to fit this information (fire, ice, dark, etc.) in one character of space, it was omitted in non-Japanese localizations.

Dialogue Font

The game's dialogue font was changed for the European version, with the new font being significantly shorter than the font used in US version; this edited font was later used in all localizations of The Sacred Stones. All other fonts in the game, including the one used in gameplay menus, are unchanged.

Name Changes

A few character and location names were changed between the Japanese, US, and European versions:

Japanese

JP Translation

United States

EU

Characters

ルセア

Ruthea

Lucius

Lucius

レナート

Renato

Renault

Renauld

Locations

オスティア

Ostia

Ostia

Ositia

ラウス

Laus

Laus

Lahus

ベルン

Bern

Bern

Biran

These changes were likely made due to the original names being more familiar to a European audience. Renault is a French car manufacturer, Ostia is a town connected to Rome, Laus was an ancient city in Italy, and Bern is the de facto capital of Switzerland.

Text changes

The localization of the text has several changes, including mistranslations and the possibly accidental removal of a background character. The European releases also remove the cliffhanger ending for the game's sequel.

In the Japanese version, Nergal mentions that Kishuna is his 252nd morph. However, this specific number was omitted in the localization.

Lyn’s age was changed from 15 to 18 by changing a line of dialogue with regards to Lyn's mom Madelyn eloping in the past. However, Wallace and Kent's C-rank support conversation was not edited to reflect this, and still claims that Lyn`s parents eloped 17 years prior to Eliwood/Hector's story; the correct figure according to the localization should be 20 years prior.

Japanese

Translation

Localization

そうです。 １６年前に 遊牧民の青年と駆け落ちした、マデリン様への使者として。

Correct. We’ve come as messengers to the lady Madelyn, who eloped with a nomad 16 years ago.

Correct. We’ve come as messengers to the lady Madelyn, who eloped with a nomad some 19 years ago.

In the European versions, a few items had their help description text strings revised to fix errors made by the US version. The US's description strings for the Dragon Axe and Wind Sword were much too long to fit into the help description box. Unfortunately, these two weapons were only released through promotional events in Japan and US and cannot be accessed normally in the European versions.

Rienfleche's description is completely incorrect in the US localization, claiming it functions like a brave weapon in that it allows the user to attack more often, which is untrue. The EU localization fixed this by giving it the correct description. This error is not present in the Japanese release.

The portions of the descriptions cut off and unviewable in game are provided here in brackets.

Errors

US Version

In the US version, Bernard’s description states that he is the “Knight Commander of Bern”, despite being in charge of the Laus army. This is a translation mistake. In the Japanese and European releases, he is correctly described as the “Knight Commander of Laus”.

European version

The English mode of both European versions adds an unusual error in the world map sequence for Chapter 16xE/17xH, where for half of a sentence the script suddenly becomes Italian, replacing the clause "Heading for the southern coast of Caelin," with "In rotta per la costa a sud di Caelin,". This appears to be a typographical error with the script itself, rather than a matter of mixed-up text pointers, since this even occurs in the "AE7X" European version which does not include an Italian localization at all.

All English Localizations

Florina's pegasus is called "Huey". However, there's one line in the English version where it refers to Florina's pegasus as "Makar". This error is not present in the Japanese release.

In the opening to Eliwood’s (or Hector’s) story, the English version of the game refers to Hanon as a male, even though Hanon is a female.

At one point Lowen will incorrectly refer to "Isadora" as "Isabella".

Eliwood’s mother is sometimes referred to as "Eleanor" instead of "Eleanora".

In chapter 27 (29 in Hector's story), Nils states that he senses that the weapon the boss is holding "is cursed" and that it "steals life energies and feeds them to its wielder". The weapon he is describing is a Runesword. This is a completely correct translation of his Japanese dialogue rendered incorrect by a gameplay change the localization introduced. In the localization the boss' weapon was changed from a runesword to a light brand. This is presumably to make the boss somewhat less difficult, as runeswords restore the wielder's HP when attacking, while light brands do not.

During the epilogue, in Karla's paired ending with Bartre the English script says that Bartre took his daugher (Fir) and "joined" Karla after she died, implying that Bartre committed suicide. This does not make sense, as Bartre appears alive and well in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade after her death. Bartre "joining" Karla is not said or implied in the Japanese version and is a translation error.

Translation errors in two separate lines of dialogue pretty much erase the existence of a background character named Aenir in the English version. Aenir was the wife of Nergal, the game's antagonist, and her death mas a motivator in his quest for power. While these errors are, alone, minor they combine to erase a significant story element.

The first erroneous line occurs in chapter 19x pt. 2 (Yes, it is a side chapter of a side chapter), in a flashback Nergal mentions he is going to Aenir, however, the English localization's wording is very likely to be interpreted as "Aenir" being the name of a location, and not a person, though the localization's translation of the line isn't particularly incorrect, it gives the reader the wrong impression.

The second error is in Nergal's death quote. When Nergal dies and a certain set of side chapters are completed, he gets a special death quote where he begins to remember Aenir. However, the English localization seems to have missed this, having him instead mention "Quintessence" (the life force Nergal had been using for power). This error comes from Quintessence being called "Aegir" in Japanese, which, as one would notice, is very similar to "Aenir", this similarity is presumably the cause of the error.

Why? How could could I lose...? More power... If only I were stronger... I I... Why did I want more power anyway...? …Ae……r…? ……I don’t... Understand... b...but... ...gah...Now... Now...as I die... With the last of my strength... You all will...tremble in despair... Fuhaha... ha...hahaha...

Promotional Content

To do:

Double check list of event-only items and which version received them. Check if item descriptions were translated to the European languages. Is it feasible to make the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! bonus disc recognize European and Japanese games?

Extra items and features (Transfer Data menu, two hidden songs) were enabled in the Japanese version from events, and in the US version from the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! bonus disc. Since no distribution events were ever run for European versions, the following items became completely inaccessible in gameplay. All of them can still be accessed through cheat devices and still function properly as the translation to each language is largely complete. Alternatively, you can move a save file from a US game cartridge with Transfer data unlocked to access it in the European versions.

Item

Region

#99: Legend of the Dragon God

US/JP

#100: Royal Palace of Silezha

US/JP

Angelic robe

US/JP

Body ring

US/JP

Dragon axe

US/JP

Dragonshield

US/JP

Emblem axe

US/JP

Emblem blade

US/JP

Emblem bow

US/JP

Emblem lance

US/JP

Emblem seal

US

Energy ring

US/JP

Goddess icon

US/JP

Secret book

US/JP

Silver card

US/JP

Thor's Ire

US/JP

Vulnerary (60 uses)

JP

Wind sword

US

Sound Room

As stated above, two of the songs (Song #99 and #100) that are obtained through promotional events are unavailable legitimately in the European version. However, there's also one other song (Song #98) that's also unavailable legitimately in the European version as this song is obtained after unlocking the extended epilogue and the European version removed epilogue scenes altogether. All three of these songs are still in the European version's game data and can be unlocked if a save with these songs from any other release is swapped into the game.

The Japanese version lists songs that come from this game as "Flame Version" (Japanese: ﻿烈火Ｖｅｒ) as many of the songs in the sound room are from previous Fire Emblem games.

Several of the song names in the Japanese version are spelled out in English. A few of these English names were changed in the international versions.

Fuuin no Tsurugi linkup

Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi Link Up was removed. Originally this feature allowed the player to skip Lyn's story during the first playthrough, as well as help to unlock the extra Epilogue scenes, as well as an extra death quote for Canas. The removal of this feature also renders a CG of Fuuin no Tsurugi's boxart unused in non-Japanese releases.

Epilogue Extra Scenes

The Epilogue has additional scenes that are unlocked by default in the US version, but not in the Japanese version. These extra scenes were removed from the European version altogether. These scenes allude to future events which occur in Fuuin no Tsurugi.

In the Japanese version, the scene with Eliwood and Hector with their children was unlocked by linking up with Fuuin no Tsurugi with a Chapter 22 end-game save. If the player does not have Fuuin no Tsurugi they could instead complete the game 9 times to see the scene.

The scene with Zephiel and Jahn was unlocked by linking up with Fuuin no Tsurugi with a Final Chapter end-game save. If the player does not have Fuuin no Tsurugi they could instead complete the game 11 times to see the scene.

In addition, the CGs used during the extended epilogue are inaccessible in the European version of the game. The only way they can appear in the European version is through emulation; if a Japanese or US save file which has viewed the extended epilogue is imported, or hacking, they will be viewable in the Sound Room.